Return of the Prodigal Son by Rembrandt

The Return of the Prodigal Son is Rembrandt’s greatest masterpiece in the Hermitage and one of the summits of Western painting. The huge canvas (262 × 205 cm) was painted around 1668, within months of the artist’s death, and is rightly seen as his artistic testament.

The subject: a Gospel parable

The painting illustrates the parable from the Gospel of Luke (15:11–32). A younger son demands his share of the inheritance, leaves home and squanders everything in a far country. Destitute, he returns to his father, who welcomes him without reproach. Rembrandt depicts not the sin or the wandering but the moment of forgiveness — the climax where guilt, repentance and mercy meet.

Description

The near-blind, aged father bends silently over the kneeling son. The son — with a worn-off shoe, in rags, his head shaved like a prisoner or pilgrim — presses against his father’s chest.

Light out of darkness. The two figures are drawn from deep shadow by warm light; Rembrandt’s chiaroscuro turns an everyday scene into a sacrament.
The father’s two different hands. The left hand is larger and “masculine”, the right softer and “feminine” — many see in this a union of fatherly and motherly love.
Silent witnesses. The figures on the right (among them, probably, the elder son) are left in shadow and ambiguity so that nothing distracts from the central gesture.
The father’s red cloak is a warm note that seems to shelter them both — a sign of protection and acceptance.

How it was made

This is the work of the late Rembrandt — a time when, after bankruptcy and personal loss, he painted with plain, concentrated feeling, renouncing outward effect for depth. The thick, almost sculptural paint surface and muted palette are hallmarks of his final style.

How it came to the Hermitage

The canvas entered the museum in 1766: on the instructions of Catherine the Great, it was bought in Paris, from the collection of André d’Ancezune, by Prince Dmitry Golitsyn. The Return of the Prodigal Son has never left the museum since — it is never lent to exhibitions.

Why it matters

Many consider the Return of the Prodigal Son the most moving painting Rembrandt ever made — and one of the most moving in all of European art. It distils a lifetime of skill and suffering into a single, almost wordless gesture of forgiveness. The image has resonated far beyond the museum: the 20th-century spiritual writer Henri Nouwen devoted a whole book to meditating on it, and for countless visitors it is the emotional high point of a trip to the Hermitage.

What to look for

The father’s embrace — the quiet centre of the picture, where the whole drama resolves.
The two different hands — read them closely and decide for yourself whether one is a mother’s hand.
The worn shoe and shaved head of the son — signs of how far he has fallen.
The thick, late paint — step close and you see the surface is built up almost like relief.

In the same Room 254 hangs Rembrandt’s Danaë; for the wider collection see Rembrandt at the Hermitage.

Which room it’s in

The painting hangs in Room 254 of the New Hermitage — the Rembrandt room on the first floor, home to the largest collection of his paintings outside the Netherlands. Use the floor plan to find it and the one-day itinerary to fit it into your visit.

FAQ

Which room is the Return of the Prodigal Son in? Room 254 (the Rembrandt room), on the first floor of the Main Museum Complex.

When was it painted? Around 1668, in the last years of Rembrandt’s life (he died in 1669).

What does the painting mean? It is the forgiveness scene from the Gospel parable — a father welcoming his repentant son without reproach, an image of unconditional, merciful love.

How big is the painting? About 262 × 205 cm — a monumental canvas that fills the wall and draws you toward the father and son.

Can I see it anywhere else? No. The painting does not leave the Hermitage and is never lent out.